


Startender

by shoyoboke



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comedy, F/M, M/M, Romantic Comedy, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22873780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoyoboke/pseuds/shoyoboke
Summary: Oikawa, a startender from Tokyo, meets his match when the youngest team member of Japans' national team decides to sponsor the bar he works at.Or: Oikawa and Kageyama struggle to make their romance last while every detail of they relationship is public.Side ships: HinaYachi, KuroKen, TsukkiYama, DaiSuga
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou & Oikawa Tooru, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Yachi Hitoka, Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 41
Kudos: 74





	1. Insta-Famous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the spacing and formatting so that it’s easier on the eyes! :)

Ink Fountain was a special kind of bar, tucked away in one of the calmer alleyways of Tokyo, it attracted men and women alike to come and spend their money not only on overpriced cocktails, but on the startenders working there too. 

The most famous was Oikawa Tooru, with over 4 million followers on Instagram, many people drove miles on Thursday nights just to see him pour drinks and preform. He had regular fans, coming to see him each week, some even changed their work schedules to be able to make it for Oikawa’s midnight closing show.

However, Oikawa wasn’t hired at the Ink Fountain because of his verified tick or extraordinary beauty, but due to connections he had at the bar. His best friend, Iwaizumi, was the owner of Ink Fountain, and after Oikawa’s occasional presence turned out to be extremely lucrative, he was hired to work there full time. 

Alongside them worked three more men; Kuuro - a black haired synonym of masculinity who performed every Friday night, with a count of 2 million followers on Instagram; Sugawara - who’s kind nature and universal attractiveness gained him popularity among both men and women, with a count of 70k followers on Instagram; and lastly, Hinata, the newest addition to Iwaizumi’s bar, who despite being straight attracted mainly men with his weekend shows, quickly gaining a following on Instagram, having 30k followers, the least of all the boys. 

The bar was very spacious, however, it appeared very cozy due to the square bar area being placed in the middle of the room, making everyone crowd together to get drinks and a good look at the boys. It was a Thursday, just past 5pm, and Oikawa was becoming irritated. It wasn’t busy, but his support was late.

“Iwa-chan, if he doesn’t show up, you will have to do all the dirty work”, he teased his friend, Iwaizumi sat behind the bar reordering stock, not paying much attention to Oikawa’s antics.  
“Yeah, okay”, came a half hearted reply, followed by some furious typing.

“Gosh, you’re no fun at all”, Oikawa pouted, and moved to the other side of the bar to collect some glasses people left behind.

“I’m sorry I’m late!”, Hinata entered like a small orange storm, making the door bang against the wall, as he run in. Behind him followed a shy blonde girl, and a tall black haired man in a suit.

“You’re fired! Don’t even come near me!”, Oikawa shouted from the other side of the bar.  
“Nooo! Am I really?!”, Hinata stopped in front of Iwaizumi, and shook his arm a little, attempting to make puppy eyes at him.  
“Of course not”, Iwaizumi said without looking at Hinata and waved him off, “now go put your stuff away before Oikawa starts throwing shit at you”.

“Yessir!”, and with that Hinata disappeared downstairs. His two friends sat themselves at the other side of the bar, opposite Iwaizumi.  
“How are you Yachi-chan?”, Oikawa mused with, sliding a glass of orange juice over to the blonde girl.  
“I’m alright, thank you”, she said, blushing slightly. Oikawa satisfied with her reaction patted her hair gently.  
“Came to watch your boyfriend work, huh? What a good girl”, he hummed teasingly.

He didn’t realise that he was under close observation while he did all this, but the ravenette that entered with Yachi had his eyes locked on him.

“Hey! Lay off of my girlfriend, Oikawa, you flirt!”, Hinata shouted as soon as he came out of the basement where he left his stuff. He appeared next to Yachi almost momentarily, seizing her into a protective hug.  
“I wasn’t doing anything”, Oikawa raised his hands up and smiled innocently.

“Hinata, drinks”, came from the ravenette, and Oikawa looked over at him for the first time. 

The man was very tall, but not taller than Oikawa, maybe the same height, he couldn’t tell when the ravenette was sitting down. He wouldn’t be anything special if it wasn’t for his height and deep blue eyes, that pierced right through you when he shot you a glance. The man was dressed very formally, in a navy suit, with a black shirt underneath, buttoned up to the very top, and a grey tie completing the look.

“So demanding, Kageyama!”, Hinata shouted at his friend and got to work, fixing up a margarita, but then topping it off with way too much sugar syrup. He passed it to Kageyama for inspection, the man took a sip and nodded in approval.

“Such an old guy and still needs to sweeten up his alcohol, how uncool”, Oikawa teased quietly, not sure what reaction he will get.

“With a bitter guy like you around I really need the sugar”, Kageyama said with a straight face, looking right through Oikawa. He was taken aback by that sudden bite back, most men just attempt to flirt when he teases them or completely dismiss him.

“Don’t be rude Kageyama, Oikawa is the most famous bartender around here, you have to show respect”, Yachi jumped to Oikawa’s defence, with a small smile. Hinata gave her a thumbs up from behind Oikawa’s back for diffusing the situation.

“I was just saying”, Kageyama shrugged and practically chugged his margarita. Almost immediately Hinata had another drink ready - this time a mojito, but Kageyama paid him no mind, fascinated by Oikawa’s boldness. 

Right after this the bar suddenly got busy, with big groups of people entering all at once. 

Iwaizumi put his laptop away and started helping the boys out with the drinks. The bar was now crowded, mainly with young women who just came from their university lectures. They all admired Oikawa, as he flirted with them and encouraged them to take pictures with him.

Hinata was working on the sidelines, cleaning up and serving those who didn’t wait in queue to see Oikawa. For most of the night it went on like this, with Hinata occasionally making another drink for Kageyama who silently observed Oikawa like a hawk.

Yachi made conversation with him from time to time, but mainly focused on her clumsy boyfriend that constantly rushed around the bar.

“You wanna try some?”, Kageyama pushed his drink towards Yachi, curiously glancing over at her.

“Oh, no, I was just trying to see who you’re looking at. Are you interested in Oikawa?”, she asked, taking a sip of his espresso martini despite of initially rejecting it.

“I suppose I am”, he shrugged. Yachi didn’t reply for a while so he looked back at her again, to find her chugging water, distress and panic painted on her face.  
“Are you okay?!”, he asked clearly concerned.  
“It’s so bitter!”, she complained as soon as she finished her glass of water, panting, trying to catch her breath after drinking so fast.  
“Well, of course dummy, it’s has coffee in it”, Kageyama sighed, taking his drink away from her. 

She wanted to retort with something, annoyed with his choice of words, but as soon as she opened her mouth the lights went off and the music became louder.  
“Look, Oikawa is about to perform!”, Hinata appeared between them, putting his arm around Yachi and pulling her closer. 

The lights suddenly came back on, illuminating only the bar area. Oikawa stood on top of the countertop in the middle of their bar area, in a small space in between stacks of clean glasses. The music was deafeningly loud and fast, it was some old punk rock song that Kageyama didn’t know.

“TOORU!”, cheers barely broke through the music, as all the girls pushed closer to the bar, trying to get a glimpse of their favourite barman.

Oikawa looked straight ahead, facing the crowd, he blew kisses and winked at some girls before he started to slowly unbutton his shirt while rocking his hips side to side. That only made the cheers louder. 

When his shirt was completely undone, he picked up a bottle of champagne. 

“Open up!”, he laughed as he shook the bottle before opening is. For some reason everyone looked more excited than concerned at this. Oikawa let the cork explode into his hand, if it caused him any pain, he didn’t show it, he moved his and away quickly, letting the champagne squirt over the crowd. 

Many of the girls opened their mouths, trying to catch some of it. When he was done with the bottle, Oikawa claimed from the centre top, onto the actual bar, letting girls tuck notes into his jeans, as he slowly moved around the countertop on his hands and knees, shooting seductive looks left and right. Some girl passed a £50 note into his hand, and he jumped down from the bar to dance with her for a few seconds before he went back to continue his journey around. 

He reached Kageyama’s side of the bar, and looked visibly irritated by it. He moved the espresso martini further away as he laid down on the bar on his back, in front of the three of them lip-syncing with the song for a few seconds, before he saw a £50 note in Kageyama’s hand.

“Is that for me?”, he shouted over the song.  
Kageyama nodded, passing it to him. 

Oikawa took Kageyama’s hand that held the note and slid it gently down his jeans. Kageyama quickly took his hand back after dropping the note there. He could hear Hinata laughing on the side, but before he could scold him, Oikawa changed his position on the bar, sitting in front of Kageyama, with his legs on either side of him. He pulled Kageyama’s tie a little loose and started undoing the top of his shirt. He paused after the second button.

“That’s better”, Oikawa smirked after he finished with Kageyama and moved back to the centre of the bar, where girls ready with pens in hands started writing on his chest. 

The song came to an end, the music and lights returned to their usual state, and Oikawa spent about ten more minutes taking pictures with fans before he disappeared in the staff room.

When Oikawa came back, with his hair slightly wet, there was less people crowding around the bar. 

Iwaizumi sat next to Kageyama, flipping through some papers, pointing to where Kageyama can sign. Oikawa noticed that his tie and buttons were still as he left them - undone. 

But Kageyama appeared as serious as he saw him when he first entered.

“You have a shower here?”, Kageyama asked curiously.  
“No, me and Oikawa live upstairs”, Iwaizumi explained, as they both watched Oikawa struggle to pull out a tray of glasses out of a dishwasher.

“Are you guys dating?”  
“I would rather die”, Iwaizumi laughed, his tone affectionate, not matching his words, “Oikawa is too in love with himself to date anyone”

“Hinata you klutz!”, they heard Oikawa shout.  
“Fight me then!”, Hinata stood on his tiptoes trying to match Oikawa’s height, but he barely reached above his shoulder. Oikawa put his hand on Hinata’s head and pushed him down comically. Some girls laughed behind the bar, amused by their quarrel.

“Stop pushing him down or he will shrink even more”, Kageyama shouted over the music, his voice and face as plain as ever.  
“Mind your own business, perv!”, Oikawa turned around to face him, childishly sticking his tongue out.  
“Perv?”, Kageyama looked genuinely taken aback by this.  
“Watch your mouth Shittykawa!”, Iwaizumi chucked a pen in Oikawa’s direction, accidentally hitting Hinata’s arm with it instead. 

Hinata was just glad that Yachi went home early and wasn’t here to witness this.

“Why? He sits through the entire night just staring there at me, it’s fucking creepy. And then he paid for a special favour? The fuck”, Oikawa ranted, coming closer to the bar.  
“Special favour?”, Kageyama turned to Iwaizumi, ignoring Oikawa who was getting in his face now.

“You gave him a £50, it means he has to give you special attention during his performance, usually in a sexual way. He started undressing you?”, Iwaizumi suggested, resignation visible in his expression. 

Was Kageyama really that clueless?

“Hinata told me to give him a £50, he said that’s what’s expected”, they both turned to look at Hinata who was now hiding behind the countertop, laughing loudly.  
“Yeah, right, as if I’m gonna believe that! You followed me on Instagram just now too!”, Oikawa slammed his hands on the bar right in front of Kageyama.  
“It’s part of the contract”, Kageyama explained calmly, looking up to meet Oikawa’s eyes.

It was unclear to him why Oikawa was behaving so erratically, but Iwaizumi understood why he was on edge. Oikawa had more than enough stalkers, both male and female, interrupting his daily life. He overreacted at the most minor signs out of cautiousness now.

“What contract?”

“Oikawa can you let us get back to work now?”, Iwaizumi tried to move Oikawa’s hands from the papers that were on the bar. He looked down to see _“sponsorship contract”_ written in bold letters at the top of the signed off pages.

“You’re getting sponsored by us?”, Oikawa looked back at Kageyama again.  
“The other way around idiot”, Iwaizumi sighed, ripping out the contract from under Oikawa’s hands.  
“Huh?”  
“Kageyama is sponsoring our bar, that will allow us to do some more aggressive marketing without risking going out of business. Happy now?”

“Oh, shit”, Oikawa almost choked on his words, “I’m-“, he was visibly blushing now, “fuck, I’m so sorry”, he apologised, bowing deeply. 

He didn’t give Kageyama enough time to reply, as he rushed away to serve a customer, simply to get out of this awkward situation. Iwaizumi won’t let him forget that. 

Kageyama’s gaze lingered on Oikawa as he moved away, all hot and bothered by the misunderstanding.

_Cute_ , he thought, although most people would not describe Oikawa like that. He felt his heart beat a little faster, when he caught Oikawa’s gaze again. The brunette quickly looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Is that all set then?”, Kageyama asked as he got up. The bar was closed when they finished setting everything up.

“Yeah, should be all good, make sure you come to see Hinata preform this weekend”, Iwaizumi shook his hand. Hinata walked Kageyama out, talking excitedly about something out of Oikawa’s earshot.

“Bye”, Kageyama stopped in the threshold.  
“Yeah, ciao”, Oikawa winked at him, in his usual flirtatious manner now, his embarrassment completely vanished by now.

“How do you know that grumpy guy?”, Oikawa asked sometime later as he and Hinata were alone cleaning behind the bar.

“Kageyama? I used to play volleyball with him in high school, he was the best. I mean, no wonder really, he’s Japan’s national team setter now”, Hinata said, throwing the words out faster than he could process them.  
“Isn’t he too young for that?”  
“You really never heard of him, huh? Just look at his insta, he’s quite famous, you know?”, Hinata mused innocently, knowing that Kageyama caught Oikawa’s attention. 

Oikawa considered it for a second, he didn’t want to seem too eager to find out about this guy.

“So how comes he’s sponsoring our bar then?”  
“He just wanted to invest into something, so I suggested this place, seems like a safe bet since we’re always full”, Hinata shrugged.  
“So did he buy shares from Iwa-chan then?”  
“Buy what?”  
“Nevermind”

Later that night as Oikawa laid in bed, still thinking about how he embarrassed himself in front of Kageyama, he opened his Instagram. 

He was instantly flooded with likes and new followers notifications. He scrolled through tagged pictures, most of them were pictures of him with different girls from that night who wrote their names on his chest, but among those one picture stood out. 

It was a picture submitted by a fan page _“oikawas.hoes”_ , he chuckled at the name. Pictured was of course Oikawa himself, his left profile shown in its entirety as he sat on the bar, shirt soaked in champagne pressed tightly against his arm and chest. With him in the picture was Kageyama, his eyes in a brighter shade of blue than in real life due to a filter, focused on Oikawa’s face with much more intensity than he remembered feeling in the moment. 

What surprised Oikawa the most though was the like count, it was already over one million, but the picture was posted 2 hours ago. How? He checked the comment section:

_**“@kageyamatobio omg is that really you?”  
“@kageyamatobio @realoikawatoru is this for real?!?!?!?!?!?”  
“@kageyamatobio is gay? WHAT”  
“Can’t believe this is how @kageyamatobio spends his free time looool” **_

Kageyama was tagged in almost every comment. 

Oikawa sighed and tapped the handle. 

It took him straight to Kageyama’s profile.

12 million followers. Following 37.

“What the fuck”, Oikawa said under his breath.

His bio read simply “volleyball; 🇯🇵 setter”. 

He only had 3 pictures, one of him and Hinata from high school. Oikawa checked the time stamp - 2 years ago. 

How old was he?

Another one with a fluffy white dog, Kageyama wasn’t smiling in it but he looked very calm which gave a similar effect.

In the third picture Kageyama was in Japan’s national representation kit, it was a picture taken during a game, while he was tossing.

Oikawa would expect him to make a stupid face while he sets the ball; but Kageyama’s eyes were focused on the ball, his muscles tensed, his lips only slightly parted, making him appear objectively handsome.

_Follow back_

Oikawa closed his phone.

It was way too late to be creeping on some random guy, no matter how famous he was. He closed his eyes, attempting to sleep, but he could still see that last picture in his mind.


	2. Your Ex

It was a Friday.

He had a day off.

So why was he here?

Oikawa was rethinking his life choices, sitting behind the bar. Iwaizumi wasn't at work yet. Sugawara and Kuroo were too busy dealing with customers to pay him any attention. He mindlessly stared at a young woman who just happened to be in the process of taking off her bra under her shirt and attempting to throw it at Kuroo over the crowd - it was bright red.  
He knew why he was here. He didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself. Oikawa was interested in the boy that he only caught a glimpse of yesterday, Kageyama Tobio. Fuck him and his pretty blue eyes. 

It was his turn to do chores today since he had a day off.

He was washing dishes - _“perv”_. He blushed, still feeling the embarrassment from the day before. 

He moved onto vacuuming - _“with a bitter guy like you around”_ \- no wonder Kageyama was so confident around him, compared to him Oikawa was just some temporary internet sensation. 

Taking out clothes from the washing machine - _“it was in the contract”_ \- as much as this sentence made him feel relief at the time, now it pissed him off. Kageyama wasn’t even interested in him. 

That’s how most of his day went, no matter what he did his thoughts wandered back to Kageyama. It didn’t help that since pictures of them eye-fucking were posted Oikawa started getting mentioned and tagged all over the internet, on all of Kageyama’s pictures and fan edits. He watched a few YouTube compilations of the boy playing, no wonder he had so many fans, he wasn’t only extremely talented, he also looked extremely handsome no matter what he did. Oikawa decided to push those thoughts out of his head, and yet there he was, downstairs at the bar, hoping that Kageyama will appear tonight. 

Kageyama didn’t come on Friday. 

It was Saturday now and Oikawa became irritated with himself, he was being childish, if he wanted to he could just dm the setter and ask.  
“Iwa-chan is your new sponsor visiting us today?”, he asked Iwaizumi instead, locking his phone.  
“How should I know?”, came a response, muffled by a mouthful of cornflakes. Oikawa shrugged and went back to scrolling through his social media. Iwaizumi’s eyes lingered on Oikawa for a second longer, but he didn’t comment on the sudden question. 

Kageyama came. 

He was dressed much more casually than on Thursday, black jeans and a navy hoodie - even such simple clothing accented his good looks, colour of the hoodie brought out the shade of his eyes.  
“You have security here?”, he asked Hinata curiously as he sat down in the same spot as last time.  
“Yeah, but only for the weekends, it gets really heated in here when Hinata preforms”, Kuroo jumped into the conversation, passing Kageyama a negroni, which the setter didn’t order.  
“Your security guard doesn’t look like he could handle it”, Kageyama said examining the drink he was given.  
“You mean Noya? You haven’t seen him in action! He might be short, but he’s so cool and fierce!”, Hinata got excited, and started recalling anecdotes of Noya taking on men twice his size.  
“Yeah, the guy is truly amazing, I think he trains karate or something like that”, Kuroo chimed in cheerfully.  
“I’m Kuroo, by the way”, they shook hands, Kageyama wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look displeased either. 

Oikawa observed their interactions from the other side of the bar. Maybe Kageyama wasn’t gay at all? He didn’t seem to be affected by Kuroo’s charm. Anyone normal would melt seeing him in that outfit. All the boys wore similar outfits tonight for Hinata’s performance - ripped crop top hoodies which covered their entire arms, but exposed their abdomen, paired with black jeans with chains attached to them in various spots. The music tonight didn’t match their outfits at all though, it was either 2000s pop or soft rap songs, setting the mood for Hinata’s midnight show.  
“I heard you fucked with Hinata briefly, how was that?”, Kuroo asked, and Oikawa started eavesdropping on their conversation again, shocked by Kuroo’s bluntness, to the same extent as he was by the question itself.  
“Can’t say, we never actually done any fucking”, Kageyama replied calmly. Hinata just laughed on the side, and that was the end of the conversation. To say Oikawa was confused was an understatement. 

The night was busy, and no one had time to pay any special attention to Kageyama, but he was content. His eyes followed Oikawa around the bar, as he poured drinks and picked up dirty glasses.  
“What’s with the soft eyes?”, Hinata shouted over the music, suddenly appearing next to Kageyama. The setter looked confused for a second but then he moved his head, indicating Oikawa.  
“Ah, I see, you saw a pretty boy?”, Hinata teased, but Kageyama just had another sip of his drink, another espresso martini this time.  
“You’re such a dog”, Hinata laughed, slapping Kageyama’s back way too hard, making him choke on the drink that was still in his mouth. “Hinata you idiot!”, Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the hoodie with one hand, putting him in a chokehold with another and ruffled up his hair aggressively.  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”, Hinata screamed as he attempted to free himself. 

Oikawa looked over to see them in that moment, he was fascinated. Kageyama appeared to be so close to Hinata, it seemed like they didn’t have any boundaries. He was sure that Hinata could smell Kageyama’s cologne from that close, feel the heat of his chest and the tense bicep against his neck. Yet he didn’t look bothered by it at all, he was laughing as soon as he got released from the chokehold, and flicked Kageyama’s forehead before he run away to eat some food. Kageyama’s eyes met Oikawa’s as he looked up. They both stared at each other for a second, startled that they’ve been caught looking. They looked away simultaneously. 

An hour later it struck midnight and the music died.

Everyone rushed to the bar, leaving their drinks behind, silent in anticipation. Kageyama stood up as the people around him were pushing him against the bar, with his height he towered above most men that crowded around him. 

Bright orange lights illuminated the bar, on top of which stood Hinata. Behind him a bright neon sign spelled out his Instagram handle. Oikawa and Kuroo stood on the floor below the bar, on either side of Hinata. The music started, as loud as last time, but it wasn’t rock this time, it was soft and slow, and the lyrics were overtly sexual. 

Hinata danced and played around with the customers, he didn’t seem to have an issue with entertaining predominantly men. Kageyama wasn’t focused on the main act as much as he would like, since Oikawa who stood at the back of the bar behind the impromptu stage on which Hinata was performing among wine glasses kept distracting him. Kuroo and him danced together, in rhythm with Hinata’s movements, the routine was clearly planned out beforehand. 

_I can be your sugar when you're fiendin' for that sweet spot_

Kuroo pulled Oikawa forward so that the man was in front of him, Oikawa had to look up at Kuroo slightly to look him in the eyes since they were so close. 

_Put me in your mouth, baby, and eat it 'til your teeth rot_

They moved closer together, Kageyama felt tense watching them lean into each other as they danced. It appeared that they were about to kiss. 

_I can be your cherry, apple, pecan, or your key lime_

Right before their lips touched Kuroo twisted Oikawa’s hand putting it against the brunettes back, forcing him to face the crowd. He pushed his back slightly making him bend over the bar and started grinding against his backside. Kageyama’s mouth went dry, he felt warmth creep through his veins, and blood rushing to the lower regions of his body. 

_Baby I got everything and so much more than she's got_

Oikawa looked to the side, searching through the crowd with his eyes, not bothered at all by Kuroo whose hands were now on his hips. He found Kageyama with ease, and was surprised to see him looking over. 

It felt overwhelming to be seen like this by the young setter, but it was clear that the boy was touched by their little show. His lips were slightly parted, it looked like he forgot to breathe, his cheeks were flushed, and his gaze was dimmed with lust. 

This gave Oikawa confidence. He smiled at Kageyama, pushing his hips further into Kuroo, who tightened his grip in response. He tilted his head slightly and licked his lips slowly, Kageyama smirked at that. Satisfied with the response, Oikawa pushed himself off the bar that he was leaning against and put his hands on Kuroo’s head without turning around to face him, still making aggressive eye contact with Kageyama instead. Kuroo moved one of his hands up, putting it on Oikawa’s chest under his hoodie. 

A sudden bang made them look over to the centre of the bar where it came from, breaking the illusion that they were alone in the bar.  
They saw Hinata standing with the customers outside of the bar area, dancing as if he didn’t hear anything, a tiny bit to the left from him stood Noya from security. What caused the bang was someone’s head being slammed against the wooden bar. Iwaizumi shouted something to Noya as he walked over and Noya shouted back, clearly angry, based on his expression, but they couldn’t hear them over the music. They all followed Noya with their eyes as he and another security guard pulled three men out of the crowd. 

What was that about? Kageyama thought. Hinata seemed completely unbothered by the whole situation, collecting tips as he danced with strangers. Not longer than a minute later Noya reappeared in the crowd right next to Hinata who was barely visible now from between the men crowding him. The short security guard was so feared by the audience that just his presence made most of them back away, giving Hinata space to walk back to the bar to finish off his show. 

Kageyama didn’t find out what got the three men kicked out that night. He didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone at the bar. As soon as the show finished he was gone, running to the main road to catch the last train home. He really needed to get a licence. 

“Kageyama went home already?”, Hinata whined as he sprayed way too much detergent on the bar surface.  
“Maybe it was hard for him to see his ex being so seductive out there”, Oikawa teased, looking at Hinata’s reaction from the corner of his eye.  
“What do you mean?”, Hinata asked innocently.  
“I heard earlier that you two used to date”  
“Oh, you mean what Kuroo said?”, Hinata laughed. Oikawa just nodded in response.  
“It’s rude to eavesdrop Oikawa!”, the orange haired boy punched him in the arm lightly.  
“But yeah, we dated in high school for a little bit, why?”  
“Aren’t you straight?”, Oikawa ignored his question.  
“Well yeah, I just wasn’t sure back then”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I guess I was just experimenting and Kageyama was the closest. Well to be honest, it was probably because of him that I questioned my sexuality at all. We used to be rivals, but then we became really close, I guess we just didn’t understand the transition from enemies to friends really well, I misunderstood my attachment to him and confessed”, Hinata laughed again not looking at Oikawa this time.  
“Kageyama was really confused back then, I think he never thought about dating anyone before that point. A lot of girls asked him out in the past, but he always said he can’t date if he’s focused on volleyball.”  
“He obviously couldn’t say that to you”, Kuroo interrupted him as he walked back in from the basement, ready to go home. He finished work before the other two men.

“Exactly! That’s why he considered it. We dated really briefly to be honest, the closer we got physically the more I realised I’m not into men, and I feel like it was the opposite for Kageyama. So we broke up and remained friends instead”, Hinata finished his story and Oikawa wasn’t sure how to reply.

He felt slightly jealous all of a sudden, but he should be happy, it was good news that Kageyama was gay. It just worried him that he might be still stuck on Hinata. 

“Isn’t it awkward for you and Yachi then? Now that the three of you are friends and all”, Oikawa asked instead of ending the conversation.

Kuroo sighed and left without saying goodbye, too tired to listen to the interrogation. 

“Not at all! Yachi is super understanding about all this. To be fair, she knew me and Kageyama when we were dating already. Not long after we broke up Yachi confessed to me, and we’ve been together ever since. Kageyama doesn’t mind either I think.”  
“Do you think he’s still in love with you?”  
“I never thought about that, but I think he has his eyes set on someone else at the moment”, Hinata gave Oikawa a look as he said that. 

The brunette became even more confused, what did Hinata mean by this?  
They finished cleaning up quickly, since Hinata was complaining that he still has to catch the night bus. 

Oikawa checked his phone when he was in bed, he always did right before sleep. 

**“@realoikawatoru @kageyamatobio @oikawas.hoes OMG HE LIKED IT WHAAAT”**

Was the first notification he saw on Twitter, the picture linked was the one of him and Kageyama on Thursday _“liked by kageyamatobio”_ was the first thing that shown next to the number of likes. Oikawa’s heart fluttered in his chest. 

He took a screenshot. Switched apps to Instagram and sent out a dm to Kageyama. He sent the picture first, waited for it to come through. It was seen almost immediately. He swallowed, feeling like he just sent a risky text. 

**realoikawatoru: “You’re trying to break the internet or something?”**

_seen_

Oikawa swiped out of the chat, feeling anxious about the message being read so fast. He put his phone away and took his contacts out in complete darkness, putting the used pieces on the dresser next to his bed. 

His phone vibrated. He picked it up quickly, holding it close to his face so that he can see the message. 

**kageyamatobio: “No, just thought it was a good picture”**

What was he supposed to respond to that?! Oikawa didn’t open Instagram to reply to the message, instead he plugged his phone in for the night and went to sleep.


	3. Interview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a slow chapter, but the next one will be _very_ exciting :)

Oikawa never replied to the message. He hasn’t seen Kageyama for over a week after that and his crush on the boy became weaker, he didn’t think about the pretty setter as much as he did when they first met. 

But then Kageyama came again. It was Sugawara’s night and the whole bar was k-pop themed for his midnight performance. Suga himself was dressed imitating one of the k-pop stars, he seemed to have an unlimited amount of other similar outfits, despite this not being his everyday style at all. Oikawa was just there to help out and since Suga wasn’t as popular as the other men, they didn’t need more support. 

“I’m glad you could make it, thank you so much for coming.”, Iwaizumi shook hands with Kageyama as he sat him down, this time in the middle of the bar where the setter would never sit of his own accord.  
“No problem, my manager flipped my whole schedule upside down for this, so you should be thanking him, really”, Kageyama replied, more lively than usual, which Oikawa instantly picked up on. He waved at the setter and got a wave back.  
“The crew should be here any minute”, Iwaizumi reassures his guest as he walked over to get behind the bar.  
“Oikawa pour 6 shots of baileys and 6 shots of spiced rum”  
“Rum?”  
“Yeah it’s for penalties, don’t worry about this, we’re filming something today”, Iwaizumi smiled mischievously, knowing that it drives Oikawa crazy when he doesn’t know what’s going on. Suga came up behind him to help with setting up the shots.  
“A famous YouTuber is coming over today, they will be filming a video for him and live streaming”, Suga explained, seeing how frustrated Oikawa was. 

About twenty minutes later four people walked in, one of them being a young man that could easily pass for a 15 year old. The tips of his hair were dyed blonde, and his eyes had a beautiful golden colour under the bar lights although they were likely just light brown. He was dressed casually, in jeans and a hoodie, and didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the situation. 

“I’m Kenma, pleased to meet you”, the boy said, extending his hand to initiate a handshake, as he approached Kageyama. His voice was quiet and soft.  
“Pleasure is all mine”, Kageyama shook his hand, and they started setting up the set, with the three additional people in the crew. When they were finished the centre of the bar was surrounded by cables, laptops, lamps and cameras. 

“Don’t drink anything until we go live, we will be live for a couple of hours”, Kenma suggested, it was the first time he spoke to Kageyama since they greeted each other. Oikawa could tell that the setter felt uncomfortable, he was visibly tensed.  
“Relax a little”, the brunette put his hand on Kageyama’s shoulder from behind and the boy turned around to face him. The sudden touch made him tense even more, and Oikawa regretted doing it.

“Thanks, I will do my best”, Kageyama said softly, catching Oikawa off guard. He expected Kageyama to tell him to screw off or just ignore him, but his reply was nice. He must be really nervous. 

The bar was filled with people, less than usual, but nevertheless it appeared packed. The cameras started rolling, the live stream started.  
“Hey everyone, welcome back, it’s me, Kenma, and I’m here at Ink Fountain today with Kageyama Tobio”, Kenma introduced them to seemingly no one, but about twenty seconds later Kageyama saw the chat moving up fast and felt his stomach turn upside-down. 

He waved looking at the camera. The recording went smoothly for about two hours, Kenma was much more lively on camera than in real life, they played a couple of drinking games related to the bar. Kageyama visibly relaxed after a couple of drinks. But then came time for the Q&A segment and he felt anxious again.

“So I think like we should start off with the most recent stuff.”, Kenma suggested, smiling shyly.  
“Which is?”  
“A famous fanpage that mainly posts about Oikawa posted a picture of you two recently and it made them very popular. I saw you liked the picture and many others did as well, what did you think about it? It appeared quite intense”, even before Kenma stopped speaking the chat blew up with hundreds of comments being written at the same time.  
“I thought it was a very good picture, the perspective was very nice and it captured the mood quite well”

“So technical”, Kenma laughed, “can you tell us more about the context behind the picture? I mean, are you and Oikawa together or?”  
“No, we’re not together. Actually, I paid for that to happen, although I didn’t realise what I was paying for”, Kageyama laughed innocently and Oikawa looked over cutting off the conversation he was having with a customer. 

He never saw Kageyama laugh before, it was a beautiful sight, and as soon as it was over, he craved more. He saw Iwaizumi being pulled into the frame to explain the tips policy and recommend the place. 

“Okay, but are you gay or not at all? It’s rumoured that your highschool sweetheart Hinata Shoyo also works here”, Kenma came back to the interview as soon as Iwaizumi was done.  
“Yeah, I’m gay. And it’s true that Hinata works here, we dated very briefly in high school though so I wouldn’t focus on that much”, Kageyama brushed it off, but then saw the chat blow up again.

“You seem to be very open about your sexuality. Has this caused you any issues in your professional career? Are your teammates fine with it?”  
Kageyama appeared uncomfortable, and Oikawa felt bad for the boy, the questions were very invasive. 

“No one really made a big fuss about it. When I first joined the team I was in a relationship so the whole team knew, no one ever commented on it. As long as I play well I don’t think it matters”, Kageyama dodges the question smoothly. The interview was more about volleyball from then on, until Kenma started taking questions from the audience, right after Suga’s performance. 

“Okay, a lot of people still ask about Oikawa. Do you think he’s attractive?”, Kenma read out, smiling slightly.  
“Yeah, I think everyone does”, Kageyama laughed again, he was clearly tipsy at this point.

“Let’s see what he thinks about you then. Oikawa can you come here for a second?”, Kenma asked and Oikawa obliged since he was listening in anyway. 

“What do you think about Kageyama?”, he asked innocently. Oikawa picked up on the excited chat that instantly lagged from amount of traffic it was getting.  
“I just loooove Tobio-chan, he’s amazing, you should check out his games”, Oikawa replied into the microphone attached to the setters shirt in an overly sweet voice, forming a heart with his hands. Kageyama grimaced at that, but didn’t say anything.

Kenma and Kageyama stayed at the bar after it was closed up, still recording. Kenma definitely made a lot of money out of this, as well as it was a great advert for the bar, but it seemed like Kageyama wasn’t getting much out of it. 

Oikawa watched the rest of the stream in bed on his phone. Both Kageyama and Kenma appeared quite drunk discussing different breeds of dogs that they liked. He turned it off and went to Instagram instead. Instantly he was flooded with notifications of being tagged. Someone screencapped the part of the stream where they complimented each other and it was a hot topic all over the Internet. He sighed and locked his phone. It was hard not to catch feelings for Kageyama, the honesty of the boy really appealed to him-

_I think everyone does_

-the words still rang in Oikawas head, as he attempted to fall asleep that night. Kageyama thought he was attractive. Then again, he looked upset when Oikawa claimed to fancy him. Why?


	4. Sleepover

The next morning Oikawa woke up earlier than usual, prepared to be productive all morning. 

Those plans did not last long. 

As he stepped out of his room, he saw that there were blankets messed up on the sofa, along with some pillows left on the wooden floor of their apartament. Did Iwa-chan sleep on the sofa? 

Oikawa could hear the shower running so he will just ask him when he gets out. He folded the blankets and reorganised the pillows without thinking much of it and begun preparing breakfast. 

Kageyama was still on his mind, despite all the effort he put into forgetting the boy the week prior. He checked his phone as he waited for the water to boil and as expected, it was lagging out from notifications, most of which were tags on posts of him and Kageyama. In the long run if he does end up pursuing the setter, the fact that their relationship is so public will only cause trouble.

_It would be worth it though_ \- he thought - _many would probably kill to have monopoly on those pretty blue eyes_. The bathroom door cracked open, and Oikawa turned around instantly to greet his flatmate. Instead he saw a pair of pretty blue eyes that he just thought about staring at him; and the owner of said eyes, with nothing on him apart from a white towel wrapped around his waist. 

“You really know how to make yourself at home, huh?”, Oikawa teased, but turned his back on Kageyama, embarrassed of the blush that creeped up to his face as soon as he saw the boy.   
“Sorry, I didn’t realise you would be awake”, Kageyama’s tone was as flat as usual, he didn’t seem to be flustered by the situation at all. Oikawa heard the setter walk further into the house, and then Iwaizumi’s door closing behind him. 

_What the hell?_

No longer than five minutes later Kageyama reappeared as Oikawa ate his breakfast. He was dressed in Iwaizumi’s shirt and sweatpants. 

“What brings you here?”, Oikawa mused, playing with the food on his plate, as he looked up at Kageyama.  
“I was too drunk to go home, and the trains weren’t running anymore when we finished filming, so Iwaizumi brought me here”  
“How nice of him”  
“Yeah”

Awkward silence fell between them. Normally Oikawa would throw quick witted comments left and right and mock the boy, but he still wasn’t fully composed after the prior events of the day.   
“Can I have some of that?”, Kageyama broke the silence between them sitting down next to Oikawa. 

This guy had no boundaries. 

“Yeah sure, I made extra for Iwaizumi, you can have that”, Oikawa put the leftover food on the plate for him.

They ate in silence, stealing glances at each other throughout the meal. Kageyama’s hair was still slightly wet, and Oikawa's eyes traced a single droplet of water that made its way down all the way from the boys hair to his neck, lazily trailing its way around his Adam’s apple, just to fall onto his collarbone and disappear under his shirt. The brunette realised he was staring for way too long and quickly looked away. 

“Alright, I will clean up and leave”, Kageyama stood up and put his plate in the sink.   
“No need, I will clean later”, Oikawa assured him. This was a good opportunity to get to know the boy, but for some reason it was hard to say anything.

“Do you wanna stay for a bit longer? We could watch something and chill for a while”, he finally managed to get it through his throat. Oikawa was never the type to be nervous, but he couldn’t deny that the boys’ status and financial power intimidated him. He was used to being the most popular person in the room, and definitely not used to rejection. 

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with that?”, Kageyama’s face was marred by a concerned look, that confused the shit out of Oikawa.   
“What do you mean?”  
“You’re acting really awkward”   
“You’re imagining things, I’m always like this”, he shrugged, trying to act as casual as possible now.

Kageyama stayed, and after a little fight over what kind of movie they will watch - he opted for action, while Oikawa demanded a true crime documentary - they sat awfully close to each other on the couch. If the brunette didn’t think he was awkward before, now he was hyper aware of his every movement and went stiff. 

He didn’t mean to sit so close, but now it would look weird if he moved away.

Was he overthinking it? 

Nervously, he laced his fingers together, then realised it looks weird and placed them in his lap, accidentally brushing past Kageyama’s thigh. He snatched his hand back, and the boy looked over at him. 

Oikawa pretended that he didn’t do anything and focused on the documentary he chose, realising they were already 20 minutes in. After he was sure that Kageyama resumed watching, he looked over at him again. The boy was completely relaxed, with one of his elbows resting on the armrest, supporting his head with his palm. Iwaizumi’s shirt was a little tight on him, and looked like it was cutting off the circulation in his bicep. Oikawa should be worried about his guests’ comfort, but instead he daydreamed about having these strong arms around him. Kageyama’s pecs were also tightly pressed against the material, and Oikawa couldn’t help himself but imagine how soft they would be now that the boy isn’t tensing. He realised he was being observed and moved his gaze up, making eye contact. 

“Do you wanna cuddle?”, Kageyama asked calmly, moving up on the couch and giving Oikawa some space.   
“How are you so confident?”, Oikawa tried to laugh it off. He was impressed by Kageyama’s boldness, although he probably could tell that Oikawa was ogling him and that’s why he offered. 

He moved closer to the boy slowly, but before Oikawa could put his head on his shoulder, Kageyama put a hand around his arm and slid one of his legs behind the brunettes back, forcing him to sit between his legs. Oikawa’s back was pressed tightly against the boys’ chest.

That was way more physical contact than he expected. 

“Are you comfortable with this?”, Kageyama asked, his lips so close to Oikawa’s ear that it made the older boy shiver slightly.   
“Yeah it’s fine”, he shrugged, pretending to be unfazed by the sudden proximity. 

The movie was long forgotten, although both of them kept their eyes on the screen, neither could help but be hyper aware of the spots in which their bodies made contact. 

“You’ve got guts for such a young guy, you know?”, Oikawa spoke up after a while.   
“If I didn’t go after the things I want, I would never be as successful as I am now”, Kageyama shrugged, his tone indifferent.   
“This is pretty nerve wrecking though”, he added, and that was enough to make Oikawa relax.   
“Damn, you’re finally acting your age”, the brunette turned around to face him. 

“At least one of us is then”  
“What is that supposed to mean?!”  
“Nothing, nothing”   
“How old do you think I am?”, Oikawa asked amused.   
“I never checked actually, like 25?”  
The brunette seized the nearest pillow and shoved it into Kageyama’s face.   
“Are you sure about that, Tobio-chan? You’re so mean!”, he sulked, still suffocating the teen with the cushion.   
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry! 21! 21! Stop!”, Kageyama laughed, pushing Oikawa away.   
“So you did look it up!”   
“It’s in your bio, idiot”, he pulled the brunette closer and wrapped one of his arms around him casually. His moves were cautious, as if he was asking permission with every small gesture. 

A few conversations later they ended up here.   
“That’s not how the tune went at all!”, Oikawa said frustrated.   
“Yeah it is, it’s like duh, duh duh, duh, duhduhduhduh”, Kageyama tried humming it out, making the brunette laugh.   
“You look ridiculous, and that’s not how the song goes at all”   
“Put it on then”  
“But the movie-“  
“The movies almost finished and we haven’t watched even a second of it”, Kageyama pointed out.   
“Fine, fine, just look it up on YouTube”, Oikawa handed him the remote. The boy turned YouTube on and went into search. It didn’t escape his attention that the last searched term was **Kageyama Tobio setting compilation**.   
“Guess you did your research”, he teased.

Oikawa wished he could just die of embarrassment not to deal with this. 

“I just wanted see who we work with”   
“Right”   
“I’m not lying”  
“It’s alright”, Kageyama snickered, and Oikawa elbowed him in the ribs. The younger boy pulled out his phone, the song they argued about long forgotten, and showed Oikawa his search history.   
“I can’t believe you googled me”  
“You’re the one to talk!”

Kageyama slid down on the couch laughing, until he was laying down, with Oikawa on top of him. He only realised how suggestive the position was when he opened his eyes and saw Oikawa’s hungry eyes above him. The brunette knew they shouldn’t be that close, but he couldn’t force himself to move away. He could feel Kageyama’s hard on pressing into his inner thigh, but chose to ignore it, not to embarrass him. 

Oikawa wondered how the boys lips would taste if he moved his head forward a little and snatched a quick taste. But Kageyama was so considerate with his touches all day that it made the brunette feel guilty about his own predatory thoughts. 

“Actually, could we take a selfie for my Instagram before you head off for practice?”, Oikawa asked, trying to ease up the tension.  
“Oh, so you’re just using me for clout?”, Kageyama pretended to be wounded, and for a second fooled Oikawa into feeling guilty.   
“I made you breakfast, you owe me”, Oikawa childishly stuck his tongue out and moved away from the setter, sitting on the other end of the couch.   
“Fine, fine. You’re so demanding”, Kageyama sighed, but he couldn’t hold back a smile as he reached out for his phone again and opened the camera. 

They posed, Oikawa trying to get his best angle, Kageyama simply trying to look somewhat presentable.   
“Damn, you actually take pretty good pictures”, the brunette commented, swiping through their options.   
“Should I post it and tag you then?”  
“Just put it on your story, and tag me there”  
“You can do it yourself”, Kageyama handed over his phone. Within seconds Oikawa was done, smiling happily at his work. 

Shortly after Kageyama rushed for practice, he stayed much longer than anticipated. Oikawa stayed on the couch for a while longer, looking at the picture on Kageyama’s story. The whole experience felt so surreal now that it was over. 

Did it mean anything?

They cuddled and talked all evening, but there was no expectations or promises on either side, and Oikawa couldn’t help but wonder if this was simply a one time occurrence, because the setter had nothing better to do.


	5. Nobody has to Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making a come back here, since I got one (1), positive review that made me come back to this story.  
> I see a potential, let me know if you do too, so I know if I should continue or not :'D

It was a one time occurrence after all. 

Oikawa hasn’t seen Kageyama for over a week now, and felt disappointed with himself for previously thinking that the little private moment they shared meant something. Maybe the setter saw his real personality and didn’t like that it was so different from the act he put on online? Who could blame him, even to Oikawa, the Oikawa that existed online was almost too perfect. 

He didn’t try contacting Kageyama over social media, he didn’t want to come across as clingy. Often times he was tempted to send something just to see if the attraction they shared was really just all in his head, but last minute decided against it and deleted the texts or selfies. 

This time his crush didn’t fade with time. It didn’t help that Kageyama never posted on his own instagram and it appeared that his PR team didn’t have control over his social media. The lack of posts or updates on the setter made him feel anxious. 

“Hey, you heard from your sponsor recently?”, Oikawa brought it up one night, curled on one side of the couch. Iwaizumi was on the other side, working on his laptop, with his legs perched up on the coffee table. 

There was a horror movie about alien invasion playing on the TV, but neither of them was dedicated to watching it.  
At first Oikawa was irritated with his friend for bringing his laptop to a “movie night”, but when Iwaizumi pointed out that Oikawa is on his phone most of the time, he couldn’t disagree with his flatmate and allowed it.

“Why are you so interested in Kageyama? Got a crush?”, Iwaizumi didn’t even look away from his screen as he said the words that hit bulls eye. 

“No, just wondering, we haven’t heard from him in a while”, Oikawa tried to maintain an indifferent tone.

“Maybe you haven’t, I hear from him pretty often”, Iwaizumi replied, finally looking at Oikawa from across the couch. 

“Ah, I see”, the bartender sulked, sinking further down on the couch, resting his head against the armrest. His feet almost touched Iwaizumi’s thigh, despite the fact that he bent his legs. 

“Why are you sulking?”

“No reason.”

“Ah, I see”, Iwaizumi mimicked his friend and turned his attention back to work. 

The next day at work Oikawa decided to ask Hinata if he knew what his ex-boyfriend was up to.

Despite his determination, the shift was extremely busy, and despite having many barback workers, both of them could barely keep up with their work. Then Yachi came to visit Hinata and stayed until closing, they planned to have a sleepover.

“Hinata!”, Oikawa called after the boy when he was about to leave. It was an hour after closing, and even when they had all this extra help, closing the bar took longer than usual due to the overwhelming increase in customers. 

“Wassup?”, Hinata turned back nonchalantly, but didn’t let go of Yachi’s hand. She turned around at the same time, it was almost like they shared the surname already. 

“Kageyama stopped showing up, is he okay?”, the brunette asked, mildly embarrassed by the nature of his question. 

“He’s doing fine, got in trouble last week for posting your face on the ‘gram, it was hilarious, his manager and the PR executives were on his case for ages”, the redhead chucked at the memory of when he first heard from Kageyama how he ended up getting in such a mess with his team. 

“Oh”, was all Oikawa managed, before the couple left. 

Maybe it wasn’t a lost cause afterall. 

Oikawa smiled to himself, harbouring hope once again. 

All hope was lost come Tuesday night. Kageyama came.

But not alone. 

Oikawa turned to greet him a little too enthusiastically, and immediately paused when he realised that the setter brought a friend with him. A tall, blonde, handsome friend, at that. They looked like a pair of models next to each other. Not that Oikawa wouldn’t fit right in with them, but it still undermined his confidence. 

He simply waved, Kageyama waved back. 

No smile, no nothing. 

As if their little odd encounter upstairs never happened. 

The brunette’s eyes followed the beanstalk blonde filled with envy. 

Soon Oikawa realised that Hinata and Yachi were with them too, they sat together at a small table, close enough to the bar so that Oikawa could see them from his spot. 

After a closer inspection he concluded that Kageyama and his friend must be on their way back from practice, considering that they wore gym shorts and Japan teams pullovers. 

Maybe there was nothing to be jealous of. They were probably just teammates, and Oikawa was over exaggerating. 

That was out the window as soon as the place crowded a little more. 

Hinata and Yachi were the only ones having alcohol at their table, and considering they were both lightweights, they were the first to dance.   
The music as always was a set up for the main act of the night, once again, Kuroo was on rotation, and the music was a mix of grime, trap and afro-b.   
Hinata was a great dancer, Oikawa had no idea how that was possible, considering the fact that behind the bar the boy was the clumsiest entity he’s ever seen.   
The same couldn’t be said for poor Yachi, who despite the alcohol didn’t become any less stressed, quite the contrary, the girl appeared to be even more reserved than usual. It was amusing to see Hinata slowly working confidence into her, after a few songs she began giggling, and danced without a care. When they came back to the table, Kageyama and his friend were dragged back onto the floor with them. 

He caught the setters eyes for a second, and turned away quickly, pretending he wasn’t looking. 

Oikawa was familiar with the song playing, despite not being fond of the genre. 

Kuroo was obsessed with it and sang random lyrics enough for Oikawa to pick up on it. It wasn’t slow, but the brunette couldn’t imagine people dancing to it without grinding. And sure enough, when he looked over next he saw Hinata’s hands on his girlfriend's hips, she had her hands around his neck, it looked innocently enough, apart from the way in which their hips moved to the rhythm of the song. 

Oikawa shifted his gaze to Kageyama, who was dancing in a similar fashion with his teammate. The blonde was taller, but it was clear that Kageyama was the one setting the pace for their movements. Quite quickly Oikawa realised that the blonde wasn’t sure how to dance to the genre or perhaps dance at all, which was why the setter was leading. 

Kageyama’s movements were pleasant to watch, it was clear that he learned to dance from Hinata, nevertheless, Oikawa enjoyed the show. 

The setter rolled his hips, the movement was fluid, and made the brunette focus his gaze on the baggy shorts that concealed everything underneath them perfectly unfortunately. He wished he could replace the blonde, which clearly had no clue what to do when a hot guy dances with him. The man didn’t seem interested or entertained by their little dance at all, if anything, he looked like he didn’t want to be there at all. 

That was encouraging. 

“Kuroo, can I bounce for a sec?”, they just started to get really busy, but they had enough back-up that Oikawa hoped for a little break.   
“I swear, if I don’t see you when the next song ends, I’m calling Iwaizumi”, Kuroo barked at him, irritated at a cocktail that he messed up. Oikawa didn’t need to be told twice and was out of the bar in seconds. 

There were more people dancing on the floor now, waving their glasses around, which made it hard to make it through to the small group at the back of the room. The closer the brunette got, the more anxious he became about his next move. 

But he was Oikawa Tooru, so what the fuck, he had no reason to be stressed. 

“Care if I cut in?”, he asked the blondie after he got close enough to the pair.  
“No, thank god”, was the reply he got, and the tall guy was already making his way back to the table. Hinata stopped him on the way, probably to ask where he’s going, and then simultaneously they turned to look at Kageyama. The brunette simply waved at them, and got an excited wave back from Hinata.

“I only get one dance, so better make it good”, he said to Kageyama, putting his hands around the man’s neck. 

“Guess I will try my best”, the setter smiled at him slightly, and pulled him closer. Oikawa noticed that the men’s hands were much lower on his hips than they were with the blondie from before, which pleased him. 

The song was much faster this time, but at the same time the lyrics were much more explicit. Oikawa was almost certain that Kuroo messed with the song queue just to forward to this one, which they will have to fix later, but he was grateful. It was a song he was familiar with, and already practiced with the other staff members before. 

Hinata apparently recognized it too, the brunette could see him performing a complex routine on his girlfriend, over Kageyama’s shoulder. 

One of Oikawa’s legs was between the setters thighs as they danced, and he quickly realised that although the shorts concealed everything, he could now feel what’s under pretty clearly. With every roll of his hips he could feel Kageyama’s hard-on pressing against his body. 

“Heard you got in trouble with your PR team”, Oikawa leaned to say into the setters ear, the music was too loud for a conversation. 

“I’m probably going to get in trouble again if you don’t stop”, Kageyama chuckled, but didn’t make the brunette move away. Oikawa turned around, grinding on the setter. He felt one of Kageyama’s hands moving to his chest, mimicking Kuroo’s routine from the other night. 

“Is this any better?”, he asked innocently. 

“Even worse”, this time the setter forced him to turn back around, but was still slightly smiling. 

“My PR team wasn’t too happy about me posting you. To be honest, it caused so much controversy they want me to stop sponsoring the bar”, Kageyama admitted, leaning in to speak into Oikawa’s ear. Although, what he said was completely serious and the brunette should be focusing on the meaning behind the words, all he could think of was how hot the setters breath felt against his ear.

 _“Nobody has to know”_ , Oikawa cheerfully mouthed the lyrics of the song in response. 

“That me and you fuck?”, Kageyama laughed, completing the lyric. 

“Well, not necessarily that, but I know how to keep a secret if you do”, the brunette smiled, pressing his hips closer to the setters. He met his eyes and realised how close they were, if he shifted his head he could kiss Kageyama without moving any closer. 

But the song was coming to an end, and Oikawa knew better than not to keep a promise he gave Kuroo. 

“Think about it”, the brunette said, shifting away, just as Kageyama was about to lean in for a kiss. 

For the rest of the night he replied the moment in his head, savouring it. Although it was pleasant, it filled him with anxiety, the more he thought about how bold his advances on the boy were. Kuroo made a few jokes about how whipped for the setter Oikawa seemed to be, but those fell on deaf ears, as the brunette seemed to be on cloud nine all night. 

The bar got too busy for Oikawa to be able to keep tabs on his friends in the corner of the bar, but from time to time he saw Hinata coming to the counter for more water. At this point the boys face matched his hair, and Oikawa was glad that he and Yachi had two sober people with them, otherwise he would worry for their safety all night. 

When the clock struck midnight there was considerably less people at the bar than usually, but the show began nonetheless. This time Kuroo and him had a routine planned together, it was simple enough that they didn’t spend any time rehearsing after learning it for the first time. From the corner of his eye Oikawa could see Hinata and Kageyama observing him, the first one with a broad drunk smile, while the latter with a grimace that the brunette couldn’t quite decode. Yachi and the blondie were now joined by a third person, a black haired lanky boy that cling to the blonde’s side while talking with barely conscious Yachi. 

_“SAY NADA”_ , Kuroo’s shout diverted his attention from the group back to the man. The crowd cheered as the remixed song began to play, blue lights began dancing across the bar, unable to focus on one point. 

Their dance was sensual and he could tell by the expression of the girls in the crowd that Kuroo looked as good as usual doing it. Halfway through they broke off and Oikawa fell back, letting Kuroo take centre “stage” by himself, as he magic-miked the island bar among the wine glasses. Finally, Kuroo moved onto taking tips, and Oikawa could see a few girls holding up £50’s for him. Before he even took one, he got interrupted by a certain youtuber emerging from the crowd. 

“Hey Kuroo”, he greeted casually over the music. 

“Missed you kitty”, Kuroo returned the greeting, displeasing a couple of ladies who grew tired of waiting for his attention. 

“What do I get if I make it rain?”, Oikawa heard the question coming from the youtuber and chuckled. Was he honestly going to treat the bar like it’s a strip club? 

“I think I won’t be able to show you what happens _in here_ ”, Kuroo replied to Oikawa’s surprise, smiling broadly. 

“I’m down for a change of location”, Kenma replied, and aimed a cash cannon gun straight at Kuroo, who only laughed in response to a consistent stream of £50 notes being fired at him.   
The crowd no longer appeared annoyed, but rather entertained, and many people began recording. Kenma seemed to have loaded a lot into the gun, as after a while he sat on top of the outer bar, and the stream of cash still wasn’t finished. 

It took them about 20 minutes to collect all the notes, and it amounted to £4,000 on the dot. Kuroo was quite shocked to find out that the money was real, as he expected fake notes. Oikawa saw him leave with Kenma that night. Before he knew, Hinata and his friends were gone too.

It stung him that Kageyama didn’t tell him he was leaving.


	6. Noya from Security

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter in which every ship gets attention, apart from the main one :')
> 
> WARNING: date-rape drugs mentioned _(everyone reacts to those slightly differently, the description isn't very detailed, nevertheless written from experience)_

“Wow, you’re a real cheap hoe now, Kuroo”, Oikawa laughed, slapping his coworker on the arm casually. 

“Cheap? 4k ain’t enough for you to give it up, Grand King?”, Hinata said, he was sitting on top of the bar swinging his legs, hitting the wooden walls from time to time. It was awfully quiet since they haven’t opened. 

“Man, I would have done it for a tenner, kitty is a catch”, Kuroo replied cheerfully, not offended at all. 

“You’re really into Kenma, huh?”, the redhead smiled broadly. 

“Yeah man, he’s even cuter now than he used to be.”

“Used to be?”, Oikawa picked up the insinuation. 

“Oh, you don’t know, do you? We went to the same high-school, we were best friends back then, we kind of drifted apart, I was too much of a player”, Kuroo scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed about the statement. 

“ _Was?_ That didn’t change”, Oikawa said confidently. 

“Man, you’ve got no clue, these days I’m really tame… In high-school I was a monster”, this time Kuroo laughed wholeheartedly. 

“You girls done with the gossip? We’re opening in ten!”, Iwaizumi emerged from the basement, carrying cases of canned beer. 

Kuroo remembered high-school vaguely as a constant swirl of different bodies and personalities. Never bothered to stick to one partner for long. And eventually even his best friend had to be discarded. 

_”I’m in love with you”_ , he said, clenching the material of his school trousers so hard that Kuroo could see his knuckles go white. Kenma was generally pale, but that day his face was flushed red, his lips parted as he struggled to catch his breath after catching up to him. 

He looked really pretty like this. That’s what Kuroo thought at the time.

 _”Sorry, I can’t, not you-”_ , he remembered mumbling something like this vaguely. Probably the worst rejection he ever came up with. 

Kenma looked really pretty with tears streaming down his face too, but Kuroo never mentioned it. 

_”Not you”_ , how can you say something like this to a person you care about the most? 

“Hey, Kuroo, you listening?”, Iwaizumi tapped Kuroo’s shoulder lightly.  
“Ah, yeah, bring these back down, right?”, he smiled cheerfully and took the half empty cases back to the basement.

Oikawa gave him a little concerned look, but quickly forgot about the man’s troubled expression that night. He had his own problems to worry about after all. 

There was no reply from Kageyama. 

Maybe he wasn’t interested at all? 

Could Oikawa mistake the man’s kindness for attraction? 

Not very likely, considering their _interactions_. 

For the following week Oikawa worked twice as hard, simply to distract himself from his own worries. Every single day he helped out at the bar, even when Iwaizumi said he won’t be increasing his salary despite the additional hours. When the bar wasn’t open he worked fast on the marketing he did on instagram. The products he got sent were at times very random, but Oikawa didn’t mind recommending his followers make-up products he would never use and protein shakes he would rather die than drink. 

Sincerity was important, but he had to make a living somehow. 

One of the days on which he offered to take Iwaizumi’s shift at the bar, he saw something truly peculiar. 

It was Sugawara’s and Hinata’s shift, the playlist was dominated by pop songs, occasionally interrupted by some soft grime numbers. Predominantly men crowded the bar, observing the startender’s every move, even though there was loads of time left until midnight. Oikawa performed supervisors duty today, wearing a face mask, to escape unwanted attention. It’s not like the mask helped in any way, most regular customers recognised him in a heartbeat. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka from the security agency the bar contracted were walking around the bar, while a new security guard that Oikawa wasn’t as familiar with stood at the door. The bar was hectic, but in a normal, peaceful way. 

The only thing that seemed out of place was a tall man sitting close to the side of the bar where Kageyama often sat. The strangers long brown hair was untied, framing his face. The look on his face didn’t betray any emotions, and the stubble on his chin paired with the leather jacket that he wore made Oikawa uneasy. Over years he learned that judging based on looks rarely failed him, and so he instantly distrusted the man. 

On top of that, it seemed that the man was interested in Sugawara, as his eyes traced the silver-haired man’s movements around the bar. Not that it would be unusual, most people literally came to the bar to look at them. Nevertheless, the man’s appearance raised red flags for Oikawa. 

“Hey handsome, you alright?”, he approached the stranger, the bar separated them. Oikawa took off the black mask that covered most of his face before speaking. The stranger looked up at him from his seat, clearly startled. 

Suspicious. 

“Yeah, I’m fine”, the man answered, uneasy. He sounded more timid than he looked, that’s for sure. His voice was deep, but the way he used it made it seem like he didn’t want to be heard. 

“I never saw you here before”, Oikawa said, casually flipping a coaster on top of the strangers beer. It landed perfectly on top of the pint glass, covering it. Oikawa met the stranger’s eyes and flashed a fake smile. 

He knew how to be intimidating. 

“I never came before, actually-”, the man began replying, fiddling with his sleeve. 

“Tooru, would you mind not bothering my friend”, Sugawara interrupted the man, putting his hand on Oikawa shoulder. 

“You know him, Suga?”, the brunette asked surprised. 

“Of course, it’s Asahi, we went to high-school together. Asahi, this is Oikawa Tooru. I’m sorry, he can be a little overprotective at times”, the silver-haired man apologised sheepishly, making Oikawa question the nature of their relationship. Sugawara wasn’t the type to go easy on people like this. 

“Ah, my bad Asahi, it’s just that, you look like a-”, Oikawa began saying.

“No, I know, it’s not your fault sir, it happens a lot”, Asahi interrupted Oikawa before he called the man a “thug”. Being addressed as “sir” was something new, but he couldn’t say he minds. 

It turned out that Oikawa’s instincts were wrong, and Asahi was the complete opposite of his looks. A few men tried to hit on him over the course of the evening, and he always sheepishly declined their advances, almost apologetically. In his own way, Asahi came across as cute. The juxtaposition of his looks and his personality resulted in some pretty funny interactions, and although Oikawa was too busy to observe the man all night, he enjoyed seeing men interested in his outward appearance lost in confusion as soon as Asahi spoke back to them. 

The night was progressing smoothly, they were making a steady profit, that matched the last weeks growth, and Oikawa was pleased that he finally learned how to analyse the confusing numbers. It took a lot of explaining from Iwaizumi, to get to this stage. 

He was just in the middle of helping a barback worker find something on the till when in the corner of his eye he noticed Noya next to Asahi. 

“Hey, are you okay?”, Nishinoya asked, and Oikawa wanted to turn to see what was happening, but first he had to help the girl with him finish the transaction. He finally gave up and manually searched up the kombucha she was holding. After asking if she will be fine to take the payment now and receiving an affirmative, he stepped back. They had way too many new staff members recently. 

Finally, he diverted his attention to Asahi and Noya. At first he thought that Noya was trying to flirt with the man, as countless others did before, but quickly realised that something was wrong. The way Nishinoya questioned the brunette was off. 

“Can you look at me? How many fingers am I holding?”, the security guards tone gave away that he was worried for the man. 

“I, uh, I can’t see very clearly”, Asahi struggled to make his response coherent, his soft voice could be barely heard over the music. 

“Everything okay?”, Oikawa approached them from the side of the bar, blocking the bar entrance with his body, and leaned over the counter slightly, to be closer to the two men. 

“No, I don’t think this guys feeling well, but he doesn’t seem to be drunk either”, Nishinoya said, now looking at Oikawa. It was odd to see the younger man so serious, his usual charm that was based on his spiked up hair and smug smiles was gone now. He was focused on doing his job right. 

“He can’t be drunk, he only had one pint, I kept an eye on him the whole night”, Oikawa assured the security guard. 

“For such a big guy it ain’t much”, now Noya appeared slightly confused. The expression was oddly attractive on him, as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other and put his hand on his hip, deep in thought. 

“Do you know where we are right now?”, Nishinoya began questioning again.  
“A bar?”, Asahi answered with a question.  
“Which bar, silly?”, the security guard smiled at the man softly.  
“I’m not sure”, the brunette slurred out. Oikawa began to be truly concerned now, the mans beer wasn’t even finished, there was no way he got so drunk off of half a pint. 

_Could it be-?_

As soon as the thought came to Oikawa’s mind, Noya slipped a piece of paper into the glass. The results came within seconds and the security guard removed the paper, showing the positive results to Oikawa. 

Date rape drugs. 

But when? 

How was it possible? 

It must have been one of the men that approached the brunette. Or did they work in a group? 

Oikawa felt himself panicking. 

“Call 911”, Nishinoya took control of the situation, seeing that Oikawa was completely dumbfounded. 

“Tanaka!”, Oikawa heard him call the other security guard, while he dialled the emergency number. 

“Shut the whole place down!”, Noya ordered assertively and without questioning his decisions everyone got to work, trying to get customers off the premises. Oikawa shot him a concerned look, while on the phone. 

“I don’t give a fuck”, was the response he got. Of course Noya didn’t care, he didn’t have to worry about Iwaizumi giving him hell for closing the bar early, that’s something Oikawa’s gonna have to deal with for the next week or so. 

“You’re gonna be fine”, Noya was whispering sweet nothings to Asahi while they waited for the ambulance in the empty bar. It appeared almost comical; although Noya was much smaller than the man he spoke to, his presence made Asahi shrink in Oikawa’s eyes. 

“It’s literally 11pm, there’s no traffic, can’t they hurry up”, Sugawara was restless, pacing back and forth. He tried comforting his friend, but it seemed that Noya was doing a better job at it, so he gave up and chose to complain instead. Oikawa could tell he blamed himself for not taking enough care of his friend. 

“Suga, relax, he’s safe, don’t sweat it”, Hinata trier to cheer his coworker up, but the words fell on deaf ears. Hinata himself appeared to be awfully agitated, it was to be expected given the situation. 

When the paramedics arrived they were ready to take Asahi to the hospital within minutes. Oikawa was in awe of their efficiency in everything they did. Sugawara of course said that he will go with his friend to comfort him. 

“Don’t leave”, Asahi grabbed Noya’s sleeve as the security guard was stepping back for the paramedics to help him out of the bar. If the circumstances were different, Oikawa would probably find it funny, but at the moment he was stunned by how good Nishinoya was at his job. He made customers feel so safe they didn’t want him to leave, this man needed a raise. 

“Can both of us come?”, Noya asked instantly, letting Asahi hang onto his sleeve. The paramedics were reluctant at first, but in the end decided amongst themselves that there will be enough space for Suga and the security guard to fit in.

###  ⭑ 

The next day Oikawa woke up to a bunch of missed calls from Hinata. Still half-asleep, he scrolled through the equally impressive number of texts from the boy and realised that the redhead was waiting outside for him. 

Why? 

“Hey! Thought I would help you set up, we’re opening early today, right?”, Hinata chirped cheerfully as he made his way into the bar past Oikawa, who opened the front door in his pajamas. 

“What time it is?”, the brunette asked, a little scared of the answer.

“It’s 2pm, we’ve got three hours”, to boy replied, as he shuffled behind the bar. Oikawa observed as he turned on the coffee machine and filled up the bean container. 

“So you woke me up for no reason, great”, the brunette sighed and sat behind the bar, not bothering to dash upstairs to change his clothes. Hinata saw him in this state more times than he could count. Yesterday it took him about two hours to close the place all by himself after he sent everyone home, and he didn’t manage to fall asleep before the sun was up. 

Not that he wasn’t used to this. 

“Look at you, in such a sour mood since you woke up, you will get wrinkles if you keep frowning like this. And what would we do without the Great King's pretty face around here?”, Hinata teased, not bothered by Oikawa’s grumpiness. 

Without a word Oikawa took a mug filled with coffee from the redhead. 

“Alright, alright, since you’re being so moody I will tell you something funny”, Hinata jumped on the bar surface to sit closer to the older boy, and fished out his phone from his pocket. 

“You heard back from Suga after yesterday?”, the boy asked and Oikawa knew it was just a set up for his story, so he simply shook his head ‘no’.

“Noya is a funny guy, man I love him”, Hinata chuckled to himself and put his phone in front of the brunette. 

There was a picture on the screen, showing Nishinoya from security in casual clothes, hair down, holding a bouquet of flowers and chocolates. In front of him was Asahi, looking utterly confused; he wore a hospital gown, and his hair was tied up now. 

“The fuck is he doing?”, Oikawa asked, chuckling. 

“Apparently Asahi clung to Noya all night, like literally, he wouldn’t let go. Suga tried to talk some sense into him, but man, Asahi was completely off his game, he didn’t even recognise Suga at times. So then, the next morning Noya rocks up, flowers and all, to wish Asahi a speedy recovery or whatever. And get this, the guy has no clue who he is! Like literally, no-”, Hinata couldn’t hold in his laughter any more by the end of the story and the last word didn’t get the chance to come out of his mouth. 

“That’s such a mess”, the brunette laughed too, zooming in on the picture. 

“Suga said Noya got so embarrassed about it all, and Asahi ended up comforting him, while still hospitalised”, the redhead managed to say in between his own laughter. 

“Nishinoya sure seemed cool yesterday, but look at him now”, Oikawa shoved the phone over to Hinata, it was zoomed in on Noya’s smiling face. 

“It just shows he really cares, you know. He probably blamed himself for letting this happen”, the redhead was a little more serious now. Oikawa eagerly agreed with him, and after that they began sorting out the bar for the day. 

“You were so moody before that I completely forgot, but can you check your dms on instagram?”, Hinata asked suddenly, in the middle of cutting up grapefruit. 

“My dms? Why?”, Oikawa took his phone out and did as asked. 

“Go into requests, and look for @fakekt”, the way in which Hinata smiled sent shivers down his spine, so sinister. 

KT? 

“Got it”, he said when he found the messages. There was a picture, and as he opened it he saw Kageyama on his screen. He wore the most hideous sweater Oikawa ever saw, and held a fork and a knife in the picture with one hand. 

What the hell? 

**from: @fakekt:** I thought about what you said. Are you sure you want to try something like this? 

**from: @fakekt:** I added the picture, just so that you know it’s really me. If you reverse google search nothing similar will come up. 

_Does he always text this formally?_

Oikawa couldn’t help but smile, although the days during which he waited for a reply were never wrecking, he got what he wanted in the end.

“You know, you really fried his brain that night”, Hinata started speaking again, seeing that Oikawa read the messages. 

“What do you mean?”, the brunette looked up from his phone confused. 

“He’s taking you way too seriously, make sure you tell him that it’s just casual.”

 _Way too seriously?_

That’s not the impression Oikawa got. 

“It will be fine, don’t you worry your pretty head about it”, he ruffled Hinata’s hair, feeling like someone returned his confidence to him.


End file.
